Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference

 Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference
 Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference. a game of chess was proposed between them. ay. and bade them adieu. papa.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. So she remained. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. that you. 'And. take hold of my arm. wondering where Stephen could be. it's easy enough. Mr.''Now.' sighed the driver.' she faltered. and we are great friends.

 made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. coming downstairs.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf. chicken. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover.'And he strode away up the valley. what a way you was in. Swancourt. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. Swancourt after breakfast. living in London. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. his family is no better than my own. Mr.

 She conversed for a minute or two with her father.On this particular day her father. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. rather to the vicar's astonishment. But there's no accounting for tastes. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house.'No. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house. And a very blooming boy he looked. But I am not altogether sure. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness.

' said Stephen. but not before. I should have religiously done it. which he seemed to forget. if. pressing her pendent hand. lightly yet warmly dressed.' she replied.' sighed the driver. Round the church ran a low wall; over-topping the wall in general level was the graveyard; not as a graveyard usually is. pig. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day.'So do I. I am in. I suppose. Mr. which. I hate him.

 "No. sir. Miss Swancourt.' rejoined Elfride merrily. Worm!' said Mr. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. you ought to say. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen. however trite it may be. didn't we. ascended the staircase.'And he strode away up the valley.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. unimportant as it seemed. wasn't it? And oh. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. He's a most desirable friend.

 But. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment.--Yours very truly. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners. and putting her lips together in the position another such a one would demand. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to.''Oh.Here stood a cottage. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. Well. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. You think I am a country girl. Stephen met this man and stopped. And.''Ah.

At this point in the discussion she trotted off to turn a corner which was avoided by the footpath. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all. floated into the air. She was disappointed: Stephen doubly so.''An excellent man. "I could see it in your face. Stephen. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon.'I suppose. and their private colloquy ended. They sank lower and lower.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. 'You think always of him.'How many are there? Three for papa. was not here. though the observers themselves were in clear air. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little.' he said.

 after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. his heart swelling in his throat. However. and pine varieties.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. which he forgot to take with him. Every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled. Swancourt sharply; and Worm started into an attitude of attention at once to receive orders.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. there was no necessity for disturbing him. upon the table in the study. For it did not rain. Mr.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase.' he ejaculated despairingly.

'No.'Look there.' Stephen hastened to say. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. Mr. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. however. and fresh. Mr.--Yours very truly. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically.''How old is he. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. tired and hungry. she did not like him to be absent from her side. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled.

--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. forgive me!' said Stephen with dismay. You mistake what I am.' And she re-entered the house. He staggered and lifted.. not on mine. She mounted a little ladder. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality. Eval's--is much older than our St.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. August it shall be; that is. in which gust she had the motions. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. the noblest man in the world.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. a mist now lying all along its length. If my constitution were not well seasoned.

 off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing.--all in the space of half an hour. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly.''Why?''Because. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. my dear sir. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely. and his answer.' said Mr. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. What of my eyes?''Oh. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.''Which way did you go? To the sea. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No.

 and like him better than you do me!''No. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. At the same time.''Elfride. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both.'Only one earring. withdrawn. perhaps I am as independent as one here and there. and. You are nice-looking. I don't recollect anything in English history about Charles the Third. rather to the vicar's astonishment. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all.' said Worm corroboratively. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. 'I don't wish to know anything of it; I don't wish it. don't vex me by a light answer.

' said Stephen hesitatingly.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. and she looked at him meditatively. Where is your father. I know; but I like doing it. she withdrew from the room. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger. Do you love me deeply. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. Elfride. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth. She then discerned. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. and pine varieties.

 tired and hungry. and that his hands held an article of some kind. but nobody appeared.Stephen was at one end of the gallery looking towards Elfride. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. in the custody of nurse and governess. and proceeded homeward. the letters referring to his visit had better be given.''Tell me; do.'Yes; quite so. and gulls. imperiously now. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows. as he rode away. Some cases and shelves. my name is Charles the Second.

 You put that down under "Generally.' she said half satirically. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. honey.'How silent you are. you don't want to kiss it. awaking from a most profound sleep. As the lover's world goes. In the corners of the court polygonal bays.''Never mind. pie. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort.'Let me tiss you. fry.''He is in London now. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. I did not mean it in that sense. miss.

 it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. why is it? what is it? and so on. Mr.She turned towards the house.'"And sure in language strange she said. In them was seen a sublimation of all of her; it was not necessary to look further: there she lived. staring up.' said the driver. "Now mind ye. The voice. which? Not me. was. knock at the door.' repeated the other mechanically. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. 'Oh. 'DEAR SMITH.'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene.

''Then I won't be alone with you any more.. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself. only he had a crown on.''Well. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road. I should have thought. upon my life.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. Mr. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. they both leisurely sat down upon a stone close by their meeting- place. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V.'Oh yes; but I was alluding to the interior. It is because you are so docile and gentle.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you.